Thursday, May 31, 2007

Psychotropic Films presents Controlled Bleeding, a film about addiction and dreams turned to nightmares. Underground filmmaker Barton Santello applies his signature psycho-active filmmaking style to perceptions of recent history. In this film, symbolic media images, imbued with a sense of tragic irony, portray repeating cycles of dysfunctional human behavior in the pursuit of a finite resource - Oil.

Historical Background That Inspired This Film: Oil - the biggest industry on earth - drives the world’s economic model, provides vast oil wealth and power for business and political entities. However, this fading resource, now mostly concentrated in poor, remote and politically unstable countries halfway around the world, leaves highly mechanized nations vulnerable to events in these remote countries. As third-world nations industrialize and populations explode, competition over the remaining oil intensifies.

Around the world, corrupt power brokers influence and infiltrate governments and manipulate jingoistic ideologies of powerful nations into projecting military power. To ensure the control of oil requires a physical presence which disrupts cultures of the people living in the regions where oil is found. After decades of economic exploitation and cultural degradation, David now fights-back against Goliath, in a modern day ‘war-of-the-worlds.’

In the United States at the dawn of the 21st century, political proxies of oil conglomerates have hijacked incredible technological, economic and military resources of a nation to wage war against Islamic peoples that stand between the access to ‘black gold’ and the West’s thirst for modern comfort and convenience. The cost of needless human suffering, financial abandon and environmental resource depletion, is seen as incidental to protect the flow of the world’s economic lubricant.

Rather than seek clean, sustainable alternatives to oil that would diffuse Jihad related terror; the defense of oil in America has moved the country toward a Fascist state. Capitalizing on fear following the events of September 11th, 2001, a dictatorial Executive Branch, conducts wars that fill the pockets of the military Industrial complex. At the same time proclaim to protect the public from the consequences of its own compulsive and consumptive behaviors: Wasteful practices which the government itself enables and perpetuates. One can now witness in real-time, a nation bring terrible misfortune down upon itself through addiction, fear, propaganda, and extreme nationalism; while expending great resources and policies that ironically help create enemies faster than they can be killed.

This perilous gamble with economic catastrophe and the sacrifice of moral behavior is conducted in full view of the world. And one can now witness a once highly respected nation, regress into mis-adventures such as secret prisons, torture and hunting-down its enemies as they dash from cave-to-cave in remote regions of the world.

Ironically, all this comes at a time when alternate renewable energy technologies could replace oil, transform economies, preserve the environment and empower people to take responsibility for their energy use. Will we open our eyes and awake from the nightmare of oil before it’s too late?

Saturday, May 05, 2007

The release ofControlled Bleeding - A Nation's Nightmareat the Arivaca Independent Filmmakers Exposition on March 24, marks the first major digital film release by Psychotropic Films since The Outskirts of Infinity in 2006. However, after the Arivaca event, Controlled Bleeding went through several re-edits including the inclusion of additional sound-design by New Mexico musician Ruben Garcia in addition to tracks furnished by L.A. Musician A Produce Final artwork and liner notes are in the works for the private DVD release scheduled for May 2007.

The digital transfer of mini-DV footage from tape for post-production of the forthcoming film "Mzungu" (filmed in South Africa, Rwanda and Uganda) is underway. Additional footage from another individual involved in the excursion into East Africa has arrived at Desert Homestead Multi-Media Studio and should add significant production value to the project. Mzungu means "stranger" in Swahili and will reflect the filmmaker's impressions of travel in Africa as a foreigner. Stay tuned to this blog for further details.

Slight editing modifications are being made to the aforementioned "The Outskirts of Infinity" film as additional historical footage has been located. Also, newly available digital technology is facilitating the repair of a few technical anomalies with the film texture of the current release.

Production on the previously announced film "Dark Ages" has been suspended until further notice.

Pre-production on a high definition film titled "In Another Place" is underway. Filming could begin as early as this summer (2007). However, details regarding this project, closely held by Psychotropic Films, have not yet been released.